Challenges

Lack of information about the potential of international labor mobility to address imminent labor shortages, and strategies to reduce barriers to international labor mobility in unexplored corridors.

Dearth of tools, mechanisms, and support systems for municipalities looking to influence national policy debates around international labor mobility.

Program Objective

To maximize the impact on the development of international labor mobility by reducing institutional, policy, and perception barriers to transnational employment through research-based policy development and policy piloting and evaluation.

By tackling the institutional, policy-related and perception barriers to international labor mobility (ILM) in corridors in and around the Mediterranean, to enhance regional labor market integration and spur economic and social development for labor source and destination countries alike.

Selected Results

Generated innovative approaches: Between November 2013 and November 2014, the International Labor Mobility (ILM) program designed a pilot employment program to increase Moroccan insertion into the German labor market, negotiated the terms of the pilot with relevant partners, and obtained funding for its implementation. While the Moroccan-German initiative addressed institutional barriers to labor mobility, the program, connected with a World Bank program, provided technical assistance to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates) for the development of labor mobility policy in the region. Finally, ILM launched LINC-UP (Labor Integration Network of Cities and Urban Planners), an initiative that aims to dismantle perceptions that prevent ideal labor mobility outcomes in destination cities.

Informed policy strategy: Based on a thorough policy diagnosis, the ILM team gave Morocco and Tunisia information on international labor intermediation systems and ways to enhance existing bilateral labor facilitation with key destination markets, including France (for Tunisia) and relatively new destinations such as Germany (for Morocco). It provided input to the design of a UAE/Kuwait labor recruitment and skill assessment pilot, which resulted in better alignment with labor market needs.

The Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) is a multi-partner platform where development agencies, Governments, local authorities and civil society from around the Mediterranean convene in order to exchange knowledge, discuss public policies, and identify the solutions needed to address key challenges facing the Mediterranean region.